Darwin's World

Session 2

Without good direction the group decided to head north to the cartel’s cities, the first stop was the small farming village of Roy that usually supplied Center with food to give them warning and to pick up supplies for the rest of the journey. Seeks’s donkey rejoined the group so the party was split with Sterling, Seeks and Nike staying with the donkey and Gil, Lug and Xanaphus making their way ahead of the group on foot to Roy.

About a half a day out a large sandstorm began to blow in and the groups quickly found shelter. The second group had a bit more time and found an abandoned old bus for protection, the lead group managed to reach a travelers shelter in a shallow cave that was stocked with firewood. The sandstorm was the largest and most aggressive storm anybody could remember ever hitting this region and it lasted a full day and a half. Xanaphus made sure to restock the cave with firewood and left a sign showing they had made it through the storm and were continuing onwards.

The storm had completely changed up the landscape with the old trail covered over by new sand dunes and previously covered sections of road now exposed. Gil was confident in their direction however and they set out. A few hours out Gili sheepishly adjusted their course blaming the sand storm for throwing his compass off. Suddenly Xanaphus smelled something odd and the group noticed what appeared to be the top corner of an ancient building that the sandstorm had uncovered. Coming close they realized it had formerly been a big building and looking into the window Gil recoiled in horror as he realized the floor was covered with thousands of cockroaches. Lug just laughed at the human until something chomped down on his leg.

Two giant cockroaches the size of large dogs had snuck up on them and proceeded to try and make a lunch out of them. Xanaphus fired an arrow right between two plates and the cockroach let out a dreadful noise in protest before taking a hard bite out of Sterling’s leg, prompting Gil to just get pissed and shoot at it repeatedly until it stopped moving. Lug was annoyed and nearly being eaten by the bug and took a swipe only to have his first blow bounce off the hard chitin to his surprise. His second swing ripped off several legs and the bug rolled on its side just in time to catch an axe in the soft underbelly.

Having dispatched the bugs they decided to head into the building since they could see several medicine boxes on the walls of the exposed room. Stepping carefully since they were unsure of the floor and there were thousands of cockroaches around they retrieved the valuable old world medicine and found a halfway that went further into the wreckage of the building. Since they could easily see in the dark Lug and Xanaphus led the way in and Gil in the rear with his flashlight. Lug gave each side room a quick look for any threats before moving on but nothing else threatened them. Xanaphus and Sterling were both thrilled at the medicines they had found which were worth a fortune and eager to get out when they arrived in a giant room that looked to be the remains of several floors of the building collapsed. This room was evidently the main den of the cockroaches with a floor that crawled. Gil knew of an old trick and shone his flashlight on the cockroaches to make them get out of the way but it didn’t seem to do anything. Unable to easily see the floor Xanaphus argued they should get out and Gil being annoyed that these cockroaches weren’t reacting to his light agreed. Lug wanted to go for the remaining medicine chests they could see but finally decided to go along.

Xanaphus noticed something and yelled a warning that they were under attack, four more of the giant cockroaches they fought earlier came at them along with a queen bug that was the size of a large rhino. Gil yelled out that an old master had taught him how to deal with them and flashed his light right in face of the one approaching him, and he kept flashing his light at it until it began to try and eat him at which point he reconsidered that these were a mutant anomaly and the trick didn’t work on them. Two of the bugs lunged after Gil and Xanaphus as they fought their way back into the hall desperately trying to land a shot through the insects hardened plates.

That initial attack cut Lug off completely and he had nowhere to flee to so instead he launched into the smaller bugs trying to flank him, quickly ripping one apart with repeated blows and avoiding the clumsy attacks of the second before finishing it off. The queen launched into him and in one attack ripped a huge gash into Lugs side and knocked him to his knees in shock. Clamping his free hand to his side he got back into the attack only to see his attacks bounce off harmlessly.

Xanaphus and Gil got some lucky shots into weak spots and managed to incapacitate one but they were both bleeding from its jaws and were continued to be forced back down the hallway trying to get anything through.

Lug proceeded to try and bash the queen’s head in and this stunned the monster who took a moment to recover. Finally finding a weak spot Lug proceeded to bash the monster bug repeatedly keeping it stunned until his axes could finally find purchase and break the armored shell open. The queen repeatedly shook off the beating and tried to retaliate but was slowed by its injuries and head trauma and soon succumbed.

Finally victorious though bleeding and limping the group retrieved the last of the medicine and headed back into the sunlight.

Session 1

It was the start of just another day in the trade outpost of Center. Nike was warming up for his fight in the gladiator pits against a giant mutant bug. Others were having an afternoon drink at the run down bar and staying out of the sun. No caravans were expected that day so everybody was just passing the time and no edicts from the boss meant everybody was being lazy.

The sound of a commotion down on the southern end of town broke the calm and everybody took notice when they heard the alarms going off and the guards yelling to get the boss. Soon after gunshots rang out as the southern gates were attacked.

Seeks could mentally tell that there was a full blown attack going on and quickly disappeared into the shadows, meanwhile Gil the cartographer and Xanaphus quickly made their way to the bar to figure out what was going on. Lug wasn’t sure what was happening so he jumped up on the chest high arena wall and sat down to watch. Sterling saw his opportunity and ran to the Bosses headquarters to try and grab his gear for an escape attempt.

With all the guards running to the defense Sterling was able to get into the Bosses office easily and began searching for the key to unlock the chests where his gear had been stashed. He couldn’t find it and as sounds of fighting grew closer he became frantic and began throwing drawers and paperwork around. A guard interrupted him but was just as scared and Sterling easily convinced him to help him find the key for the boss before sending him to join the defense.

By this point the fighting had broken through the gates and people could hear something they hadn’t heard before, the sound of full automatic gunfire and the yelling of the boss cut messily short. Gil realized they were in a lot of trouble as he recognized the Children of the Metal God and quickly grabbed water and made his way to the back of the compound. Xanaphus spent a bit more time scavenging and manage to find where the barkeep kept his old double barrel sawed off shotgun before likewise making herself scarce. Nike was a little hard of hearing and hadn’t noticed until he got impatient and walked out to see what was keeping his match, saw the fighting and figured this was a good time to strike out on his own. Lug in the meantime was enjoying the show up until a mutant Child spit a large glob of acid at him that began dissolving the rocks and he changed his mind about his choice of seats.

By this point the main fighting had started to die down and the group found themselves all together in the back of the compound. Grabbing their supplies and setting lose Gil’s Donkey they made for the back wall. Lug easily lunged up the broken stone and Sterling found his own way up before the Children came into view finishing off any survivors.

Three mutants led by a cyborg leader they spotted the party and rushed into the attack. Gil dropped one quickly with a clean shot from his rifle and Xanaphus feathered another one with her bow before they got in close. Nike grinned and engaged the last mutant only to get himself covered in blood as Sterling blew its head apart from above. A fusilade of shots blew apart the cyborg’s shoulder mounted AK47 and caused him to drop to the ground injured.

Quickly before more could arrive the party scrambled up the wall and out into freedom.

Your adventure begins...

You are live in a small trade city called Center. If this little corner of hell was ever the center of anything, it isn’t anymore. It survives because it has developed somewhat of a reputation as place where anything goes. The majority of it’s citizens are nothing more than slaves or indentured servants. What business it brings in gives the Boss enough money to feed his slaves, pay his guards, and line his pockets. And then one day Center is attacked…